1. Field of the Invention
An improved photo identification collection assembly incorporating a plurality of image collectors structured to simultaneously collect data associated with a specific transaction. The assembly includes an image actuator structured to generate an actuator signal, the actuator signal causing each of the plurality of image collectors to simultaneously collect data, thus providing a verifiable and authenticatable correlation between various elements associated with a specific transaction. The assembly further includes a data storage unit structured to retrieve and at least temporarily store the data from the image collectors for access by one or more viewing devices, thus making the assembly substantially portable and versatile.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since the time when businesses began accepting documents such as checks as payment for goods and/or services rendered and/or as verification of a transaction as in the case of transportation tickets, there have been those who have taken advantage of this practice for their own ill-gotten gains. Specifically, document fraud, such as check fraud, began, and to this day it continues to have a serious negative impact on the bottom line of numerous businesses throughout the world, as goods are provided to and/or services are rendered for a person or persons who, in return, present the provider with a check or other document that has been fraudulently generated. This may be due to, among other reasons, insufficient funds in the account, use of a lost or stolen check for which a stop payment request has been issued, or a forged and/or counterfeit check. While the law provides a business, as well as individuals, with recourse against persons who commit such document fraud, the process is costly and time consuming. As such, in many cases businesses simply cannot justify the time or expense required to bring the guilty parties to justice and to try to recover their economic losses.
In addition to check fraud, along with the significant increase in the acceptance of credit cards, and more recently debit cards, by numerous businesses throughout the world, the reported instances of credit card fraud have also significantly increased. As is the case with check fraud, while a business harmed by such an act has recourse to the law, it is often time and/or cost prohibitive to enforce and, therefore, credit card fraud has become an even more attractive scheme to the people who perpetrate such crimes.
Initial attempts to address the problems associated with check and credit card fraud included a common tactic, employed by many businesses, which is to require that a customer, who is otherwise unknown to them, produce some form of photo identification, and in many cases, some form of government issued photo identification, to verify that the name on the check or credit card corresponds to the name on the photo identification, and that the photo appears to be of the person presenting it. Additionally, in many instances, at least some of the relevant information contained on the photo identification, such as a driver's license or telephone number, may be written directly on the check or credit card transaction slip. However, as these techniques began to be employed, the people committing these fraudulent acts simply produced fraudulent photo identification cards to accompany the checks and/or credit cards they improperly, and illegally, presented as payment.
A further measure implemented by a number of businesses, initially and primarily in banking institutions, is the utilization of some form of photo collection device or devices strategically located in a facility, such as closed circuit television cameras. While these are often effective to prove that a certain person was in a certain place at a certain time, they generally are not designed to capture the person's activities in detail, such as the signing of a specific check or a specific credit card receipt. Without concrete proof of unity of a person and a fraudulent instrument, such as a check or credit card receipt, insurance carriers, with whom many businesses contract with to insure against loss due to fraud, are not willing to compensate the victim's business for many losses. A main reason for this is that the closed circuit images do not provide sufficient proof for the insurance carriers to recover their losses via subsequent legal action.
A modification of this concept, specifically intended to address the issue of check and credit card fraud, is the use of a conventional camera to take a person's picture at the time they make a purchase with a check or credit card. This system presents several problems, the first being simply the expense of taking a photograph of every person wishing to make a purchase by check or credit card. In addition, as noted above, the simple fact that a photograph of the person is taken at the time of a transaction does not provide sufficient unity of the person and the fraudulent instrument to allow the business owner, or their insurance carrier, to effectively proceed with legal action against the person(s) who committed the fraudulent act.
More recently, identification concerns have dramatically risen with respect to national security and/or safety measures. This is due in part to the apparent use of fraudulent identification documents and associated airline tickets by terrorists and other criminals. In addition to the nation's airports, the government has indicated the need to strictly monitor persons entering other sensitive facilities throughout the nation, such as federally owned buildings and landmarks, federal, state and local courthouses, prisons, power generating plants, chemical processing facilities, etc. While a variety of methods and devices exist for monitoring persons entering, and in some instances, exiting, such facilities, none has provided an effective and efficient means to maintain an accurate record, such as by capturing a person's photograph, while at the same time recording an image of the identification and/or other documents which they presented to gain access to such facilities.
As such, it would be highly beneficial to provide an efficient and cost effective assembly to record a person's financial transactions and/or their entry and exit from sensitive facilities. In particular, it would be helpful to provide an assembly which could record the image of the person completing the transaction or entering a facility, as well as the executed monetary instrument, airline or other transportation ticket, and/or other relevant documentation, such as some form of photo identification, simultaneously. Further, it would be preferable if such an assembly were self contained and portable such that it could easily and effectively be staged and utilized at any location deemed to require such monitoring. Also, it would be beneficial for such an assembly to be capable of storing a large volume of the images it collects, such that they are accessible for review via one or more viewing devices, either though a local connection to the assembly, or by remotely accessing the assembly via a network connection. Furthermore, such an assembly should be durable, affordable, and low maintenance so it provides an opportunity for anyone requiring such an assembly to make avail of its full potential for deterring the aforementioned unsavory activities, and should be capable of effective connection and/or communication with other remote or local facilities for subsequent and/or contemporaneous verifications and authentication.